Telehealth Services Provided Across Alberta and Northwest Territories
Therapy Comes To You
Telehealth as defined by the World Health Organization involves the use of telecommunications and virtual technology to deliver health care outside of traditional health-care facilities. Telehealth, which requires access only to telecommunications, is the most basic element of "eHealth", which uses a wider range of information and communication technologies.
Psychologists have been using telehealth since it's inception, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth services have expanded very rapidly to ensure continuity of care and provide psychological services to people who are unable to access them in-person. Research investigating the use of telehealth in psychology actually suggest these are effective and efficient ways to deliver psychological treatment with outcomes that are the same as face-to-face therapy. I provide telehealth services to the residents of the province of Alberta as well as Northwest Territories. Instead of meeting in person, my clients and I have our sessions via telephone or more commonly a secure browser-based video-conferencing system.
The Benefits of Telehealth
Psychological services are delivered to clients when they need it, and where they need.
Improved access to psychological services as telehealth may offset barriers associated with transportation, childcare, and time away from home/office. Other clients may struggle significantly to attend in person sessions due to their mental health concerns. Telehealth now brings their therapy to them.
Residents of Alberta & NWT who may reside in smaller communities with limited health care providers now have far better access to specialized psychological care and numerous options of Psychologist they can choose from.
Clients appreciate the convenience and comfort of having therapy in their own home. There is no traffic to deal with, no searches for parking and no drives in bad weather.
Telehealth is shown to be effective! Existing and emerging research indicates that telehealth is generally just as effective for most clients as in-person services. One of the critical variables in psychotherapy outcome is your connection or relationship with your treatment provider which impacts success rates both in person and in telehealth services.
Considerations for Telehealth
There are elements of the therapy process that are impacted by not having in person services and for some people in person services are a significant preference.
Not all clients nor presenting problems lend itself to this type of service delivery.
You require safe, secure, and privately accessible technology.
At times sessions can be impacted by service disruptions and internet quality.
In addition to general limitations on your privacy when seeking psychological services, telehealth services, by nature, poses additional risks to the privacy and security of your health information. All technologies I use meet ethical standards, practice guidelines and health information/privacy regulatory standards. I also work with all my clients to minimize these risks.
All technologies I use meet ethical standards, practice guidelines and health information/privacy regulatory standards. I also work with all my clients to minimize these risks.